PENSACOLA, Fla. — With his top two low post players and his back-up point guard all missing due to injury or illness, Arkansas Tech head coach Doug Karleskint knew several Wonder Boys would have to step up on Sunday night.

Career highs from four different players was just the ticket as Arkansas Tech (8-1) held off the West Florida Argonauts 89-85 at the UWF Field House in Pensacola.

The win gave the Wonder Boys a 2-0 mark in the weekend McDonald Fleming Moorhead Classic and sent them into the holiday break on a four-game winning streak.

“We had a lot of guys step up,” Karleskint said. “I thought Mykel Cleveland was the best player on the floor. He got to the basket and made plays. Matt Haney was an absolute man tonight. We scheduled up this year, and the way we were playing early on I was banging my head against a wall. But this is a resilient group, and when we shoot like this we are a good basketball team.”

Haney had a career-high 20 points and matched his career high with 10 rebounds. His final rebound of the night with 6.2 seconds left and the free throw he made after being fouled sealed a 4-point win.

Cleveland had a career-high 18 points. Jeremy Hoard, who was 9-of-11 from 3-point range during the two-day classic, had a career-high 17 points. Nick Wayman completed the quartet of career scoring nights with seven points off the bench.

Arkansas Tech led 43-34 at halftime and by as many as 11 points in the second half, but a 7-0 West Florida run cut the Wonder Boys’ lead to 82-79 with 44.6 seconds left.

Johnie Davis got a slam dunk and Hoard hit two free throws to make it 86-79 with 35.4 seconds to go, but the Argonauts — who had only made one 3-pointer all season — hit two treys with seven seconds of each other to get within 86-85 with 23.3 seconds remaining.

Davis made two free tosses to give the Wonder Boys a 3-point edge. West Florida’s Jamar Moore and Mike Lewis both got looks at potentially game-tying 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds, but Haney’s rebound and free throw with 6.2 seconds left wrapped it for Tech.

Moore had game highs of 28 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists for the Argos (7-4).

Tech played without point guard Kendell Pinkney, forward Stephen Coles and center Will Paul.

The absence of Coles and Paul was especially daunting against a UWF squad that sported the largest line-up the Wonder Boys have faced so far this season. The Argonauts have eight players 6-foot-4 or taller in their regular rotation.

The Wonder Boys will now take an 11-day break from game competition and will return to action on Dec. 29, with a 7 p.m. game in College Station, Texas, against NCAA Division I member Texas A&M University.

Russellville radio station KWKK 100.9 FM will have the broadcast of Arkansas Tech’s game against the Aggies.